on beach Tag | The Ring Finders

West Yarmouth, MA: Lost Pinky Ring Found and Returned

  • from Cape Cod (Massachusetts, United States)

July 17, 2024

Zack was on vacation enjoying one of the many small beaches with friends. While frolicking in thigh deep water he felt his pinky ring slip off his finger. Others on the beach offered the information about TheRingFinders and another member’s phone number and called. Unfortunately, Luke was on his way off Cape Cod for the weekend and could not help except to pass my number onto Zack. A call to me and of course I was on my way to what was to be a quick return. Well, that was not to be.

Zack told me that he was very sure of he area he lost the ring at. With the information of the area and depth in the water he was when the ring fell off, I started searching parallel to the shore line with no success. Time to search perpendicular to the shore line, gridding the area. Nothing. Maybe as Zack next suggested he might have been a bit more the the right and so I opened up the search area. Again, nothing. Zack then said “No, I am very sure I was over here…again nothing. The tide was coming in and it was getting late. I called off the search for the evening and would be back the next day.

The morning came and I and detecting partner Leighton were on our way for another search. About forty minutes into the search in the original area, I found the ring. Hey, if you miss the ring by an inch, it might just as well had been a mile. I just did not pass my search coil over the ring the day before.

Zach had gone to another beach and it was not for another couple of hours and a cup of iced tea that we met up with Zack at his vacation rental for the returning of the ring. And as usual pictures, stories and many thanks with smiles all around, Leighton and I left for another beach to do some recreational detecting with no pressure to find a specific target.

 

Barnstable, MA Platinum Wedding Band Lost, Found, and Returned

  • from Cape Cod (Massachusetts, United States)

July 11, 2024

From my home town in Connecticut, Arman was enjoying the Cape Cod’s good beach going weather with a Frisbee in hand, the sandy beach, family and friends when he somehow came to be missing his wedding band. No one moved, all looked very intensely for the lost piece of metal that held 11 years of memories. Not wanting to give up, Arman’s wife Mina, “Googled” for someone to help find the wayward ring. As often happens my name came up in a link with TheRingFinders.com and a text was sent my way.

I was out and enjoying a dinner with my wife and a long time metal detecting friend Eleanor. I did not check my text messages until the next morning. I answered it and was on my to the the beach for another recovery attempt. I spent more time talking with Arman about our home town than it took me to locate his ring.

My first good signal was a coin that I had Arman’s son remove from my scoop and to keep as a treasure from Cape Cod. Later he also was very grateful when I gave him one of my TheRingFinders.com cards for him to keep.

Back to the search, my second good target, which I was sure, was Arman’s ring was about 5 minutes later, just beyond the original suggested area to search. I took a picture then had Arman remove the ring from my scoop which he did with no hesitation, brushed the sand off and replaced it on his finger. More picture, stories, and old and current information about our home town was a welcome change from metal detecting stories although a few bits were part of our conversation. It all ended with a great feeling for the Cape and desire to return next year with smiles that will last through the coming year.

 

Dennis, MA Platinum Ring Lost in Sand, Found and Returned

  • from Cape Cod (Massachusetts, United States)

July 8, 2024

While sitting at home sipping on an iced tea the phone rang. Carolyn, in a desperate voice, asked if I could help find her engagement ring? Of course I said “yes”. She and several friends were on a private beach with no public parking. OK, I could park in her mother’s driveway and walk to the beach. With that said, I was off for what I hoped to be a short search in the mid day sun.

When I arrived at the beach I was told how the loss occurred. Carolyn had put her rings in her pocket. When she stood up to remove her beach cover up so she could soak up some warn sun’s rays she saw her ring fall gently into the fluffy white sand and disappear.

This should be a quick and easy search and it was. In less than a minute Carolyn was wearing her ring again. The Thank Yous and taking of pictures followed. As usual I asked how it came to be that she called TheRingFinders for help. As it happened last night there was a woman in the group that had a story of how her husband had lost his ring and I had found it a couple of years ago. The word is getting around as our success continues to put smiles on so many faces.

 

West Dennis, MA Lost Ring – Like Father, Like Daughter – Found & Returned

  • from Cape Cod (Massachusetts, United States)

July 7, 2024

Some losses are remarkable in one way or another. I thought a text from Pam that this call might be as much of a challenge as finding her husband’s ring almost 4 years ago. It took Leighton and myself several hours of detecting before it was recovered from the depths of sand that had covered it.

Well no such luck today. Kate the daughter of Pam and Keith had lost her Cape Cod Fish ring. The ring was the highlight of the return. Kate had been out where she could not touch the bottom. She was carefully making her way toward the shore, aware of the rings that were on her fingers and felt the Fish swim away with a smile on its face and a wink in its eye.

It was almost dark when I arrived at the beach and it was low tide, perfect. I went straight out keeping the telephone poles and a cottage in line of the search pattern. On the fifth pass knew I had found the ring that had given up swimming for a nap in the sand. Nothing exciting, no drama, no sharks, no football to blame for taking the ring off Kate’s finger. Just a quick loss of a ring, a call to TheRingFinders, a five minute search and before the sun set photos had been taken along with almost nothing except that Kate is keeping the family’s tradition of loosing a ring at the same beach every 4 years. Yes, sometimes the easy is a nice change compared to a search that drags on for days. At least this evening had plenty of smiles and laughs at days end.

Wellfleet, MA Long Pond 2nd Ring Lost, Found and Returned

  • from Cape Cod (Massachusetts, United States)

July 1, 2024

It has been one of those feast or famine years. Hardly any calls for lost items in the first 5 months and now it is almost non-stop. Two days ago a lost wedding band at Long Pond and today another at Long Pond. Jennifer lost her wedding band just feet away from my last call to the pond. Both days I was so fortunate to get to the beach only to find the area that a ring was lost at was just about void of beach-goers. I did not have to ask anyone to move before I found each ring. This hardly happens this time of the year.

Jennifer had texted me just before leaving for her home out of state. She sent me a photo of the area her ring was lost at. At the beach many well-wishers held off asking me questions until I found Jennifer’s ring. Then everyone was interested in my service and a few stories of other returns I had made.

Back at the car, texting with Jennifer, an arrangement was made for me to return the ring to Kate (right picture), a friend that was still in the area and she will return the ring to Jennifer.

West Yarmouth, MA Beach Holds Wedding Band Overnight Before Found & Returned

  • from Cape Cod (Massachusetts, United States)

July 3, 2024

With the upcoming 4th of July holiday and an opportunity to spend a few days in Vacation Land, Lou was not one to pass up such a combination. With great weather for enjoying one of the Capes many beaches it was a good time not to be passed up. In the pleasant water and with family and friends Lou was not paying any particular attention to the area he was in at the moment his wedding band slipped from his thinning finger. He searched looking at the shells and other creatures on the ocean’s floor, but did not find the ring.

Here is where friends and TheRingFinders work together. Pete was contacted, but could not help but did pass the info onto Leighton who also could not help due to his work schedule. So Leighton passed the info onto me. Hey, I am retired and live for the opportunity to help others. I contacted Lou and set up a sunrise meeting time. Three hours of searching and the tide was coming in and the wind getting stronger. I called it a morning. With all the good intentions of returning for the evening tide. That did not happen as the seas got rougher. So it was another early morning search on the calendar.

Friday morning came with water calm enough to search in. About 2 ½ hours later I was heading out to meet for another morning’s commitment. I was haphazardly searching closer to the shore line, on the way out for the morning, and about 5 feet beyond the area Lou had me searching in. A faint target I had just heard was one that I was not going to pass up on. It was a solid tone and a perfect dot on my detector’s ID screen. I am glad I did not pass it up as it was Lou’s ring.

I texted Lou and set up a 1pm meeting to return his ring. Another successful adventure and the pictures tell it all.

 

Dennis Port, Cape Cod, MA Lost Engagement/Wedding Found & Returned

  • from Cape Cod (Massachusetts, United States)

July 4, 2024

Finding a beach with a parking space is a difficult thing to do on the 4th of July. Shannon and the group she was with finally found an opening in Dennis Port. The beach had a great new set of stairs that replace the set that was torn off the cliff in a winter storm. The group found an open area at the far end of the beach which had a very narrow dry sand area to sit on. Settling down, it was time for a bit of sun protection to be applied to her daughter. Off came the engagement/wedding ring that was given to Alanna for safe keeping. It was sitting safely on Alanna’s leg until a quick movement sent the ring into the sand.

Several minutes of frantic searching failed to give up the rings location. One in the group did a Google search for “Ring Finder Cape Cod” and was rewarded with a link to my listing. A short conversation and fifteen minutes later I was at the beach where there were no parking spaces except for one Reserved slot. I explained the situation to the parking attendant and was granted permission to park in the open space as I said I should be 15 minutes at the max.

I grabbed my gear and headed to the new stairway that I had never used. All metal and long steps – perfect for the beach-goers. Within 3 minutes I was searching and within 45 seconds I had a large signal. I commented “It sounds like a tin can in size but has the correct tone”. Sure enough it was the ring glistening in the bottom of the scoop. In the next 5 seconds it left the scoop and was back on Shannon’s finger. Boy, that is how I would love to have all my searches progress. Hugs, hand shakes, thank yous, went on for several minutes. Especially from Alanna who was more distraught and upset for letting the entrusted ring slip into the sand. I think it will take awhile for her to overcome the incident but, I know she will with the support from the fabulous group that was celebrating the 4th.

Yes, I do love my hobby when they end like this one did.

 

Chatham, Ma Hearing Aid Lost in the Sand – Found and Returned

  • from Cape Cod (Massachusetts, United States)

July 3, 2024

Elaine would very seldom wear her hearing aids, especially to the beach. But on the beautiful July day she did. By what ever force happened, it pull the hearing aid off her ear before falling into the sand. Several family members looked for all they were worth with no success.

A search for help ended with the call to my phone. Within the hour I was all set up ready for the search. Yes, July 3rd and a packed beach conjured up a nightmare of how I was going to search the beach. Too my surprise family relative were “holding” the area open with a game of beach paddle pong. The area was all mine.

Well, an hearing aid is about the hardest item to find with a metal detector. Thinking ahead I had a bag to put one of my own hearing aids into so I could “tune” my detector for the best possible search mode for a hearing aid on a sandy beach. Still, with all the very small bits of metal on a public beach it was a challenge. About 15 minutes and at the very end of the “possible” area it was lost in a very faint, repeatable signal. One scoop and there it was, even to my amazement.

The family ensured me it would be returned to Elaine when they left the beach. She called me later on to personally Thank me.

 

South Yarmouth, MA Gold Charm Went Down the Drain

  • from Cape Cod (Massachusetts, United States)

July 2, 2024

While Brenda was untangling her grandson’s necklace her star fish charm slipped off and right down into the sink’s drain. What was she to do? Brenda knew enough not to run any water. Hey, if water went down, maybe she could suck it up with a vacuum cleaner. Good try, but all she got was a bit of water. Next, call a plumber, but she was not absolutely positive that the charm she referred to as “Henry” was indeed in the P-trap. Maybe a magnet, help from the hardware store…yes. On her way to the hardware store she passed by J&E Metal Detectors. She stopped in and found out gold is non-magnetic and a detector could not be swung in the area. Eleanor’s suggestion was to call me. She did and within a hour we had a plan.

First I had to ensure “Henry” was in the P-trap, that was stainless steel and had no drain plug. My answer was to use a stroboscope. I remembered another member of TheRingFinders had used one in search of a ring lost in a car. IT WORKED in this situation also, Henry was indeed in the P-trap. I loosened one pipe nut by hand but the second one required much finesse with a 16 inch channel lock wrench.

Once the nuts were undone, the P-trap slid out and so did the star fish which was then slid onto its chain. Two things remained: first putting the sink back into working order. Second: pictures and a Thank You. My reward and best part of the day was seeing the smile on Brenda’s face while holding “Henry” against her chest. Just another reason for me to keep on offering my talents to those in need.

 

Wellfleet, MA Long Pond Ring Lost, Found and Returned

  • from Cape Cod (Massachusetts, United States)

June 27, 2024

It has been one of those months for me. And I just had to add these few words to a successful search and return of Mike’s wedding band. His story will follow.

Not all of a RingFinders’ search ends in a story for the Book of Smiles. Some have a reason why. Here are a few recent reasons why I have been unsuccessful in my searches. Lost ring was found elsewhere. I.e. under the man’s bed, in the trash can by the sink, on the fireplace mantle or another places a metal detector just could not have been used to locate the ring. Someone else has found the ring by “eyeballing” it before I began a search. In three cases the rings have been returned. One last possibility is that I just was not given the correct area to search or just did not cover the one square inch that the lost ring was in. One endeavor that has helped me in the past is the reviewing of photos to see if the ring or other object was indeed in the area I was to search, or narrow down the area. In one call the ring had not been on the person’s hand for two days. End of search. The hardest part of being a RingFinder is having to tell a person that I did not find the ring, but I can tell them were the ring is not located.

Now, I had been out on two such searches were I did not find either of the lost item and when I got home, Mike’s message was on my answering machine. Ah, another lost ring in the sand, or maybe in the water upto knee deep. OK, I was on my way and would get to the beach after the parking fee was required. There was a parking space right in front of the area to be searched and it was my luck that the beach goers were packing up which meant I would not have to ask anyone to move for a few minutes while I detected over the area. It took me about ten minutes to cover the area, retrieve a nickle, a pull tab and then the ring.

Now…That is how all of a RingFinder’s searches should be!

I called Mike, sent a picture for confirmation that I had indeed found his ring. It was, a return date was set and I promised I would keep his ring safe until I would personally return it to him. Mike also mentioned he had made a report at the local police station. So on my way out of town, I stopped at the police station and added the found and reuturn information to the report Mike had made. I also thanked the dispatcher for passing on the information about TheRingFinders, something some town officials can not do for legal reasons.